A Test
by Dogtooth3030
Summary: When Lucy is kidnapped and tortured - just to drive Natsu into a blood-lusting rage so his opponent can get a good test of his own strength - the dragon slayer will do anything to get her back. WARNING: contains lots of blood and torture in the first chapter, hardly any in the rest. Not for the faint of heart. Will have romance, but not until later. R
1. Chapter 1

Her breath seemed to shake along with her as she couldn't quite draw in a full lungful. Maybe her lungs were shaking, too, and that was why she could scarcely breathe.

"Scared, Lucy-chan?" The blonde flinched when an amused chuckle rang out, echoing eerily in the horror movie-like underground dungeon. "Don't worry. If Fairy Tail is truly your nakama, then they'll save you when they realize you're missing. Either way, its their fault if anything happens to you."

Somehow, Lucy summoned up the courage to snap at him, "Jerk, how can you say that it's their fault if _you_ beat me up!" She was about to say more, but the man behind all of this stepped out of the shadows created by the few candles around the room and her voice died out as a pathetic whimper.

Yasuke Ryuu was a cleverly cruel man. His name only became famous recently, but it was rumored that, in one night, he killed his entire village. Despite his evil nature, Ryuu was somehow cute in appearance, with shaggy black hair and wide brown eyes better suited on a little kid than a murderer.

Ryuu leaned forward, cupping her face with his hands and forcing her to look at him; no matter how hard she struggled, he had tied her tight to the chair and she wasn't budging. "Listen, sweet stuff, I'll cut you a deal. Tell me your team's weaknesses. I don't need all of them, don't freak out!" He laughed when Lucy gaped at him, horrified by the idea of betraying her nakama. "I just need the dragon slayers."

"S-shut up, you jerk! I'll never betray my nakama!" She screamed, letting out all of her anger and fear with that. "Ugh!"

Ryuu stared at the celestial mage, watching her cheek redden. His 'nice guy' act vanished and he grabbed her throat, reveling in her look of terror. "Don't you dare raise your voice at me, bitch. It's fine if you don't want to tell me, I'll get whatever I want either the easy way or the hard way. Your choice."

Her answer was obvious as she glared at him, her pride wounded with being slapped in the face.

"Alright then. I was gonna wait until Fairy Tail tried to get you out of here, but it's no problem if we do this now."

Grabbing her hair, Ryuu punched her cheek, her hair pulled painfully as her head whipped to the side. He did it again and again, then let go of her golden locks, now a bit tangled, with a flourish, knocking her head back. He had to give her credit, not once did she cry out. Instead, the dark look in her eyes made him chuckle. This chick had no _idea_ what real pain was.

However, just as he was going to rough her up some more, a wicked plan came to mind.

* * *

"Hey, Mira! Have you seen Lucy?"

The white haired woman shook her head, "Last I saw her was this morning and its almost dark now, Natsu. Have you tried her apartment?"

The dragon slayer collapsed onto a bar stool, groaning in frustration. "I can't find her anywhere! I've tried her house, the mall, restaurants - I even asked those fishermen that always tell Lucy to be careful! How can she just disappear?"

"Who disappeared? Happy?"

Natsu didn't bother looking up at Gray as Erza sat down beside him. "Lucy. Happy went to look for her in the forest and I just got back from turning Magnolia upside-down. We've been looking for her all day!"

"What do you need Lucy so much for today?" The swords-woman, however, also didn't look at him when she talked and instead tucked into her favorite cake that Mirajane always saved for her. But Gray noticed the blush that marked his cheeks.

Just as the ice mage was about to laugh and sing mockingly out loud "~Natsu loves Lucy! Natsu loves Lucy!~" a certain blue, hysterical cat burst in, throwing the doors open in a very un-Happy way. Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare, but he went straight to the pink haired boy.

"Na-Natsu!" He nearly screamed, tears flattening the short fur on his face and staining them a dark blue, "I-it's Lucy!"

"What happened?" Although Natsu said it, everyone in the guild was thinking it, previous activities completely forgotten as the entire Fairy Tail listened intensely.

The azure cat was so frantic that he could barely speak and the guild had to struggle to understand what he said, "I-I was in t-the forest wh-when a m-man c-came up to m-me. Oh, Natsu, I didn't stand a chance against him! T-then h-he showed me L-Lucy's w-whip and s-said . . . he s-said," Happy's voice broke and at this point, Fairy Tail was terrified at what he was going to say next. "H-he said t-that we ne-needed to w-watch t-this."

Mira gently took the scroll from the cat, recognizing the enchantment on it. "It's meant for you, Natsu. You need to light it on fire in order to - ahh!"

Without waiting for an explanation, he grabbed it and lit it up. He was far more serious than anyone in Fairy Tail had ever seen him and if they were being honest, they were a bit scared. When the dragon slayer placed it on the ground, a sort-of projection, like a video, showed itself on the wall, depicting a cute young man with dark clothes against a dark background. The only thing clearly visible was his wide brown eyes and shaggy black hair. However, no one fell for the cute look. His face was infamous everywhere, especially recently. Yasuke Ryuu.

"Greetings, Fairy Tail. This is intended for Natsu-san, but I'm sure your entire guild nosed their way into this. But it doesn't matter. Normally, I don't deal with mages and guilds, so forgive any unintended insults or remarks due to my lack of knowledge. However, I have heard a lot about your fire dragon slayer magic, Natsu-san. I'd like to test my strength against you in a one-on-one battle. But I've done my homework and, from what I've gathered, you fight the hardest when someone close to you is in danger, no? So watch closely, Dragoneel Natsu-san."

Ryuu turned and began to walk, but wherever he was, it was far too dark to see anything other than Yasuke himself. However, the body tied to a chair was sitting right in the light, visible for everyone to see.

"Lucy!" Natsu roared, momentarily forgetting that they were watching a video and that this had already happened.

"As you can see, I have Heartfillia Lucy-chan. And now, I'm going to torture her for you, Natsu-san. I sincerely hope that this will give you the incentive to truly fight me. Maybe, if torture isn't enough, I'll just kill her."

An equal amount of guilt and fury built up in the pink haired boy, but there was nothing he could do but watch in agony as Ryuu grabbed Lucy's pinkie and snapped the bone easily, leaving it bent unnaturally. She screamed through clenched teeth, determined to hold back as much as possible with her entire guild's eyes on her. She tried to be strong for them, to uphold the name Fairy Tail with as much dignity as she could muster.

One after the other, all the fingers in her left hand were twisted and mangled, at funny angles. Despite the sickening pain shooting up her arm, she didn't let a single tear fall.

"You bastard!" Natsu howled, a small flame flickering around him in response to his hateful wrath.

Ryuu didn't stop at that, however, and drew a knife from his belt. He ignored Fairy Tail - not once did he glance at the source of the spell like he did when directly addressing them - and slowly pressed the blade to her arm. The black haired man had moved so that Fairy Tail had a unobstructed view of her face and body. The terror stamped on her pretty features was enough to send the guild's blood-lust through the roof.

While the blade was pressing into her, he didn't cut her yet. "You still have a choice, Lucy-chan." The man leaned closer, his lips brushing against her ear. A chain wrapped around her neck and anchored to the chair prevented her from moving her head much, but her torso shifted away anyway. Her shaking got worse as she squeezed her eyes shut. Natsu could almost smell her fear, he felt so strongly for her. "Tell me his weakness and I won't hurt you anymore. Tell me Natsu's weakness."

All the color drained from Natsu's face and his stomach lurched. This was all his fault. Lucy, _his_ Lucy, was being tortured because of him. He wanted to scream, cry, and kill all at the same time. He didn't realize it, but he was baring his teeth in a way that made him looked damn near terrifying.

Lucy, with a furious glint in her eyes, snapped at him with her teeth, anger overriding fear for a brief moment. With her obvious but unspoken answer, Ryuu plunged the blade into her arm, twisting it savagely. This time, her scream was a lot louder and a few tears trickled down her face. Natsu covered his ears, there was no way he could listen to her pained shriek without killing something. Erza, Gray, and Happy felt the same way.

Ryuu was vicious and didn't let up, slicing her arms, legs, and midriff. But all of his cuts were superficial, shallow. She was bloody, but nothing was life threatening and even the cuts weren't very painful; since the stab wound on her arm, she hadn't screamed once.

"Stupid girl," Ryuu growled. "If you think that was bad, just wait. I got something special for you. But first . . ." Holding the knife tightly, the man placed the tip at her side, carefully positioning it so it would encounter no vital organs. Then, stroking her hair, he stabbed her slowly.

Natsu could only watch in torment as the woman he loved began to cry out in agony, the chains holding her to the chair beginning to cut into her skin with her struggling. The dragon slayer's fisted so tightly that he drew blood, staring helplessly as tears ran down Lucy's face.

Being wounded in battle was about as different from a slow, deliberate stab as night was from day. In a fight, the adrenaline was racing, sweeping the pain away and even in the aftermath, it was usually drowned out by the emotions of either a win or loss. However, torture like this, the only thing affecting a body was fear. Unlike adrenaline and the feelings of battle, terror amplified pain. Natsu was sure that Lucy was going through tremendous amounts of both of those. And damn it all, Ryuu was smirking.

Finally, after those tortuous, slow moments, the knife had sunk up to its hilt, Lucy's blood staining Ryuu's hand red.

"B-bastard," she gasped out, a trickle of blood running down her chin as she coughed, an action that only served to twist the blade in her a little more.

"Hush, bitch. I'm nowhere _near_ done yet." When she looked away, he grabbed a fistful of blond tresses and held her head up so she was staring at the source of the spell - staring right at Fairy Tail, inadvertently. "See that? I'm going to send a copy of this to your _nakama_. I wonder how they'll react when they see this?"

"N-no! Don't - agh!" Her face whipped to the side as he slapped her again.

"Why not? You know, the more I think about it, the less I am convinced that Fairy Tail is really your nakama." Inwardly, he grinned when he sensed her stiffen. Nothing like a little psychological torture to accompany the physical.

"Wh-what? W-why?" Lucy whimpered, a sound that tore Natsu to pieces, when the black haired man laid a hand gently on her mangled fingers.

"Think about it, Lucy-chan. So far, all you've done is make everyone else go out of their way to save you. When you and Natsu-san first met, he had to save your ass from some low-level punk and - out of pity, I imagine - invited you to join Fairy Tail. Then you got stuck with Gray and Erza, who have gotten hurt on more than one occasion saving you because you were too weak to do anything but hide behind your spirits. Have you wondered why Leo the Lion hasn't shown up yet to save the day? Because he hates you, deep down, and wants you to die so he can be free again. Eeeeveryone _hates_ you, Lucy-chan. No one would care if I took this knife," he pressed it against her neck, "and slit your throat right now. No one is going to save you. I'll torture you until you can't stand the pain anymore, then I'll cut you up some more.

"You're going to die here, Lucy-chan, and there won't be a person damn sad about it."

The guild was silent, some with hands over their mouths, some frozen in shock, but all of them were mad as hell. However, even Laxus, who was as pissed as anyone else, was wary of Team Natsu. Their wrath seemed to suffocate everyone in the building, like drowning. And the heat. Natsu was steaming but he, along with everyone in Fairy Tail, was helpless. If Ryuu wanted to fight him, then he'd reveal his location at the end. Wait a minute . . .

"Levi!" Everyone jumped, not expecting Natsu to yell. "Can you fast forward it or something? I can't watch another minute of this shit! I need to know where this guy is so I can burn him to ashes!"

The pain and anguish on her face turned to resolve as she nodded resolutely, having unconsciously worked out what lines to add already. As soon as she did so, the scene moved forward quickly. They could still see what happened to her, but at least they couldn't hear her scream, however little that eased them. They watched as he beat her around some more, whipped her with her own weapon, choked her until she barely twitched, bent her arms unnaturally. He untied her and proceeded to kick and whip her.

However, something happened - a distraction, maybe - and Lucy made a break for it. Since the beginning of the video, every member of Fairy Tail had already 'accepted' that Lucy was going to be tortured thoroughly. A small spark of hope ignited in Natsu when he saw her run off.

But Ryuu wasn't infamous for nothing and as he chased her, the spell followed, giving everyone a view of the chase. Levi's spell suddenly wore off, something that should be impossible as it should have affected the core of the spell, and the projection returned to it's original pacing.

"Fairy Tail, I have placed another, underlying spell that should have activated by now. It will render any modifications to my original spell null; this is to make sure you do not skip ahead anymore, as I predicted you would. It's the grand finale." He hardly seemed out of breath even as he chased Lucy outside into a forest. "Don't worry, the video is almost over. See, I made sure she was able to make a run for it. That way, I could run her into my trap." As if on cue, Lucy's surprised shriek cut in and Ryuu grinned darkly.

The origin of the spell shifted and they saw the blonde mage dangling suspended a few feet off the ground, caught in a net. Her despair turned to anger and she screamed obscenities at the man, cursing him, his mother, and every breath he took. Any other time, Fairy Tail might have been surprised at her foul mouth, but it was lost in their agreement with her words. Ryuu was the worst kind of man.

The black haired man tsked, shaking his head and ignoring her spiteful and colorful words. "Now, Lucy-chan, that's not very nice. I'd ask you to apologize, but I know a different way for you to make it up to me." Reaching behind a tree, he revealed a club, the same length and a little thicker than a baseball bat, and if one peered hard enough, stained a faint red. He smacked it against his hand a couple of times, hoping to unnerve the blonde. His actions had the desired affect and Lucy's mild brown eyes widened, realizing what he intended to do.

"You bastard . . ." Lucy whispered before the first blow landed, the sickening crunch of her arm shooting through Fairy tail's ears, as well as the following scream. Ryuu swung it again, this time hitting her legs. Again and again he did this, swinging the heavy club at her arms, side, back, legs, gut (which was partially covered by her arms, but that didn't matter to Ryuu). But he avoided her upper torso. It would not be beneficial for him to accidentally kill her with a miss-placed hit. The celestial mage was far more useful to him alive. Plus all he wanted was to fight Natsu-san, not the entire Fairy Tail.

It was only when Lucy had gone completely limp and silent that Ryuu stopped. The blonde was unrecognizable, her skin a pattern of purples, reds, and blacks, and even her hair was dark with dried blood. Her mangled hand dangled lifelessly out of a gap in the net and the black haired man was worried for a moment that he had killed her. Continuing to ignore Fairy Tail, he stepped closer to her and grabbed her broken hand, squeezing harshly. Even unconscious and damn _near_ dead, she moaned softly, twitching away from the source of her discomfort. Ryuu smirked, pleased with his handiwork, finally turning around and looking at Fairy Tail.

"Did you enjoy our little show, Natsu-san?" He purred, sticking a hand in the net and stroking the top of Lucy's head, the only part that was still blonde. "As I said in the beginning, I will reveal my location to you. However, I only want to fight you, Natsu-san, and not your entire guild. You may bring your team along with you, and I would even suggest to bring that air dragon slayer, the healer, but I cannot allow them to interfere. If they do, I will not hesitate to kill Lucy-chan.

"I am in the forest east of Magnolia, about three miles away, in an abandoned shack. I'll be waiting, but you'd better hurry. I'm honestly not sure how long Miss Lucy-chan here can survive with these injuries." And with that, the spell ended and the scroll crumbled to dust.

As soon as the video ended, Natsu was already gone, taking the door off of its henge in his bottomless wrath. Someone was going to _die_, he was sure of it. And it damn well wasn't going to be anyone in Fairy Tail. Erza, Wendy, and Gray followed suit, while Happy flew alongside Natsu. The rest of Fairy Tail stayed behind, if only for Lucy's sake. And if Natsu couldn't bring her back, then no one could.

Team Natsu ran to Ryuu's hideout in absolute silence. There was nothing to say, really; they were all on the same page. Find Ryuu, get Lucy to Wendy or vice-versa, and kill Ryuu. Simple as that. No fanfare. No pleasantries. No explanations.

Just good, old fashioned revenge.


	2. Chapter 2

Team Natsu knew they were close when they saw the dried out puddle of blood on the dirt path and the remains of a net. With renewed fury, they sped up, catching sight of the shed Ryuu described and, lo and behold, the fiend himself, standing a little ways from the door with his arms behind his back.

He looked even cuter in person, with his wild black hair sticking out in all directions, as if he hadn't bothered to smooth it out after the wind had messed it up. And his wide, chestnut brown eyes staring impassively at them, almost mocking them. Natsu nearly lunged forward, but Erza and Gray held him back, both mages staring at Ryuu with distrust. Team Natsu halted a ways away from him.

Erza was the first to speak up. "Where's Lucy? You won't get your fight unless we see her!"

Ryuu, who had been gazing at Natsu, turned to stare at Erza. She was a hardened warrior, but his emotionless eyes unnerved her a bit as well as made her angry. He had just tortured someone to the brink of death and he didn't feel anything? She was beginning to wonder if he was even human. No sane person could inflict those kind of injuries on a fellow human and not feel _something_.

"Rest assured, I had planned on allowing all of you to see her yourself before I fought Natsu-san. Please, she's right in there," he gestured to the shed and Natsu was already inside before he finished pointing. _'So, he's that fast,'_ Ryuu stored that information in the back of his head, determined to gather as many weak points about Natsu as possible before they began their fight.

"Lucy!" Her name was ripped from Natsu's throat as he entered the shed, looking around wildly and seeing nothing but another door, leading underground. He grabbed the handle and flung it open, paying no mind to the damage he caused to the building. It was pitch black and he quickly lit a flame in his hand before continuing, the eerie darkness somewhat bringing him back to a less frantic state of mind. "Lucy!" He called out, searching for her. A faint moan answered him and his heart leapt into his throat. While elated at knowing she was here, that weak moan was filled with pain.

Rounding a corner, he saw her. The blonde mage had been thrown in a corner, her back to the dragon slayer. Her body sagged pathetically and her deeper cuts still oozed blood. Under that, her skin was a deathly shade of white. A candle was already lit, so Natsu extinguished his own flame in favor of holding Lucy in his arms. That was the plan, but as soon as he touched her, she groaned, brow furrowed. He froze, moving his arms away from her as the severity of her injuries hit him. Opening his mouth to call for Wendy, all that came out was a strangled sound. It didn't matter, she was already there, eyes wide and brimming with tears as she began to heal her friend. Erza and Gray were frozen at the door, cold knots of dread settling in their stomach.

Clenching his fists, Natsu stood up, choking out, "Wendy, please heal her."

She smiled at him, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Y-you don't even have to a-ask, Natsu."

He nodded, turning around, "G-good, 'cause I'm gonna go kill Ryuu now."

Silently, Gray and Erza followed and the three strongest mages in Fairy Tail were back outside, staring down Ryuu, who hadn't moved from his last position.

The quiet was broken by Natsu. "Damn you . . ."

"That, Natsu-san," The man turned around, keeping his hands behind his back, "is something only God can do. You don't believe you're God, do you?"

"He's trying to taunt you, Natsu," Erza whispered urgently in his ear, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Don't listen to him." When Ryuu stepped forward, she felt Natsu tense under her hand.

"Now that I have seen you in person, Natsu-san, I realize that I will be able to defeat you, no matter how riled up you get." It wasn't so much what he said that got to the pink haired boy, but the dismissive tone in which he said it.

"What?"

Ryuu sneered just a little, "You're actually weak, Natsu. I can't believe I fell for all those accusations and reports of you defeating seasoned mages, just like the rest of the world did." He sighed, suddenly bored, "You may take Lucy and leave. I don't want to fight you anymore. There's no point-"

He was cut off by the need to dodge a jet of fire, flipping backwards a few times. Natsu, with crazed, furious eyes, lunged again, unleashing more fire. Gray acted quickly and set up an ice wall, preventing the start of a forest fire. He couldn't trust Natsu to hold back with his state of mind, even though the ice mage was nearly as angry as he.

"You bastard!" Natsu howled, "There's no way I'm leaving! I'm going to kill you as revenge for Lucy, for what you did to her!"

With a smirk, Ryuu readied himself by drawing out his twin daggers, "Fool, don't you know that revenge is best served cold?"

Snarling, Natsu's body became engulfed in flames, "I don't do cold." Abandoning the conversation, he charged forward, unleashing more fire. However, he didn't have any kind of handle on his emotions and the flames simply spiraled out erratically.

Ryuu slashed out with his blades with a cry of, "Spirit of Heat, I accept!" His blades glowed a harsh red as the flames . . . avoided him. They harshly veered up and to the sides, leaving the black haired mage in the middle and unburned. Natsu's eyes widened and he tried again with the same result. When the dragon slayer tried again, Ryuu laughed, "You fool! There's no way your fire can get past my Spirit of Heat! It's pointles-"

While his 'shield' did block Natsu's flames again, he didn't count for the fire mage to attack him physically, leaping out of the fire with his fists swinging. Acting on instinct, he dodged and lashed out with his dagger, catching Natsu on his arm -

- and lighting the entire appendage up in fire. The enemy mage skidded away, watching carefully, waiting to see if the rumors were true. Sure enough, Natsu inhaled the flames, not at all burnt. This didn't surprise him and now it was time to fight seriously, when Natsu was enraged and full of renewed power, to test his own strength. But first things first.

He widened his stance, flipping his daggers around and pointing them at the ground. "Spirit of the Colosseum, I accept!" As he stabbed his blades into the dirt, surprising the other mages, a pressure wave rippled out and hardened into a translucent, dome-like energy structure around the two engaged in fight, effectively blacking Erza and Gray from entering the fray.

"Now," he grinned, "we can fight without any interfer-" Again, he was interrupted by dodging a streak of fire and the annoyance was starting to make him angry. "Fine then, if you don't want to talk at all, then I'll go ahead and crush you! Spirit of the Tiger, I accept!" Slashing the air with his blades, a pair of white-on-black tigers materialized out of the movement. Ryuu touched his daggers to their heads and yelled, "Spirit of Heat, we accept!" The tigers leapt forward as his daggers glowed red again.

Cursing, Natsu dodged the first one and got nicked by the second. He guessed his magic wouldn't work with that stupid Spirit around them, but they were too quick for him to punch them. All he could do was dodge as best as he could and try to get to Ryuu. Meanwhile, the black haired mage had placed a key into the hilt of each dagger, muttering a chant the entire time. Once the second key clicked into place, both tigers picked up speed and gained more power. Soon, Natsu couldn't keep up and got whacked into the energy dome, right by Erza and Gray.

They watched as he struggled back up and charged the tigers again, with him getting beat down repeatedly. "What magic is Ryuu using?" Gray asked, wincing a bit as Natsu got a particularly nasty hit but managed to get a punch or two in.

Erza's frown deepened, "I'm not sure. I've never seen this before, but we should probably analyze it and look for any weak points. After seeing the state Lucy was in," her fist clenched a bit, "I don't think Wendy is going to have enough magic left to heal Natsu."

"Natsu!" Gray yelled suddenly, causing Erza to jump. "You damn flame-brain! Don't get hurt; Wendy can't heal you! Moron!"

Gritting his teeth, the dragon slayer mage snapped back, "I know that, ice princess! I'm trying to get to that bastard, but these stupid cats - no offense, Happy - keep getting in the way!"

"Then wear them out!"

Natsu almost paused to look at Erza, but a swinging paw forced him to keep moving. "What do you mean by that?"

The redhead shouted, "That bastard is using his magic to keep that Spirit of Heat around them! If you drag it out, then he'll lose enough energy to -"

"Hell no!"

Speechless, the two mages stared at Natsu as he nearly broke a tigers skull with his punch and knocked it into the other one, buying himself enough time to cross his arms and scowl darkly. "This is a fight and I'm gonna beat his sorry ass into ashes - with my own two fists, properly! I'll use every part of my body if I have to, but I'll kill him for Lucy! I'll never forgive him!"

He had been trying to keep Lucy out of his mind, if only to preserve his sanity and keep him level-headed enough to fight, but now that he could almost see her devastating injuries in his mind, flames burst all around him, a testament to his unfathomable rage. Turning away from his friends, he howled to the sky, "Ryuu!"

Far away from the fight between his tigers and Natsu, Ryuu smirked, swinging his blades around a bit. "Sorry, Erza-san, but you're wrong. I don't use any energy to keep my Spirits of Abstract here. Actually, I -" This time, when Natsu charged forward, all he did was swing his blade toward him and a pack of wolves appeared, snarling with spittle hanging off of their teeth. "Don't interrupt me again," he bit out icily. Walking around and standing before Erza and Gray, he ignored Natsu and his wolves in favor of talking to the two mages. "While your plan would have worked marvelously against someone who needed to use magic constantly to do what I can, I am not so simple."

"Then what are you? I've never seen your magic before," Gray spoke up, using his willpower to keep his scowl to a minimum. Erza wasn't even trying.

Ryuu smiled again, "It's rather unusual, isn't it? It took me ages to figure out it's secret but once I did, I became unstoppable. I roamed the country, making a name for myself and reveling in the terror that followed me. Call me morbid, but I'm addicted to it, like an alcoholic is addicted to booze."

Erza spat, "That's nothing but a cheap high. There's no point in going so far just for a rush."

"A cheap high, you say? That's something a person who has never had people genuinely terrified of them would say."

She pursed her lips, struggling to restrain herself and _not_ stab him through the eyeball with her mace (you read that right, stab him with a mace - owies!). "Say what you want, it doesn't change the fact that you are torturing and killing people just for a bit of excitement." Even as she said it, another revelation came to her. "But if that's true, then why have you hurt Lucy? That won't gain you a large amount of fear from people."

It was a while before he did anything and when he did, he was throwing his head back and laughing loudly. "Oh, you don't understand. I don't _care_ where the fear comes from, just as long as I can get it as potent as possible. And trust me, nothing get's better than torturing someone and feeding off of the pure, raw terror that comes from them. But what I said earlier wasn't false; I really do want to test my strength against that of the Salamander. So far, I'm disappointed, but one can expect that in life sometimes. Maybe I'll toy with him some more before finishing him off."

Now it was Gray's turn to chuckle, "If you think it'll be that easy, then you're dumber than you look." When Ryuu stared at him impassively, the ice mage elaborated, "You've done the unthinkable; you hurt our nakama. Not only that, but you're doing all of this because you're a sick, twisted junkie whose got nothing better to do than screw up other people's lives. I really hope Natsu doesn't kill you, Ryuu . . . I want that pleasure for myself."

He only flashed them that infuriating grin again, turning around and facing Natsu, who had just finished off the last wolf. Panting hard with venom in his eyes, he once again tried charging forward.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Spirit of Hea-" With a roar, Natsu struck him before he could finish, and it was only Ryuu's cat-like reflexes that allowed him to escape with minor burns.

Standing calmly, Natsu eyed him, analyzing for any weaknesses. Normally, he would simply charge him and use brute strength to pummel him, it seemed as if Ryuu had known all of his abilities and prepared for them. He'd have to use his battle experience and wit to take him out. His black eyes widened as he realized something.

Natsu charged forward again and Ryuu yelled hurriedly, "Spirit of Heat, I accept!" Now that he had his defense up, the black haired mage laughed, "Give it up! Natsu!"

From the sidelines, Grey and Erza gaped at Natsu before the ice mage chuckled, "Smart. That's unlike him." Erza nodded in agreement

"Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar!" Unleashing a torrent of fire and lightning from his mouth, his attack slammed into Ryuu and since his fire was infused with lightning, the mage's Spirit of Heat had no affect. Ryuu only had enough time to gasp before he was struck with the full force of the blast. Flying through the air, he slammed into and tree and slid down it, limp.

Energy completely drained, Natsu, panting, stood over the charred Ryuu. There was no joy at winning, no elation, no smugness. Just a cold satisfaction. That one shot had killed him and if it didn't, then he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone again. Turning around, the pink haired mage watched as the translucent dome faded around them. He didn't waste any time and began to hurry toward the shed. "Come on, guys, let's see how Lucy's doing."

Lying prone on the ground, Ryuu's hand reached for his daggers.

* * *

**So this is mostly fighting. All the fluff is next chapter ^^ **

**~Dogtooth**


	3. Chapter 3

Although he grumbled it, Gray had to admit that Natsu had had a stroke of genius by using a combination of fire and lightning. He watched through the hazy dome as his friend's attack easily broke through Ryuu's shield and slammed into the man, catapulting him away and into a tree. Natsu stood over him, breathing heavily and as the dome began to dissolve, the ice mage could see him shaking slightly. Whether that was due to anger or exhaustion, he couldn't tell.

"Come on, guys, let's see how Lucy's doing." Natsu would have run back down to Lucy, but his limbs were like lead and his entire body seemed to drag him downwards.

With a sigh, Gray turned around to help him get downstairs and saw some movement behind him. Narrowing his eyes to see it better, he was shocked to see Ryuu's hand move.

"Ryuu!" Gray snarled out, feeling a little more than annoyed at the man. He was hit with a Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar - there was no way he should be able to even move, never mind grab his dagg- "Shit." Natsu was completely drained; he couldn't fend off an attack in his current state. Gathering his magic, Gray leapt forward, forming an ice shield between Natsu and Ryuu as the dark mage managed to grab his blade.

"Release your weapon this instant, Ryuu," Erza spat, one hundred swords pointed at Ryuu's face; she had taken the initiative and had gone for Ryuu while Gray protected Natsu.

Tightening his grip on his dagger, the brown eyed mage chuckled darkly. "I would . . . if I were Ryuu-sama," with a grin, 'Ryuu' began to change shape and Erza took a step back, staring wide-eyed as the man in front of her changed into a humanoid fox. The fox coughed up blood before vanishing.

"Whew, that was close. I'll admit, Natsu-san, I didn't expect you to be able to counter my Spirit of Heat." Appearing in same place he had been when Natsu had fired that last attack, Ryuu smirked at the Fairy Tail mage's shocked visages. "What? I'm Yasuke Ryuu; you can't expect me to die from something like _that_. Oh, don't get me wrong, that attack was insanely powerful - there's no way I could have survived it. But - well, to fully explain how, I'd have to explain _everything_ and I'd rather not."

Just as he finished his sentence, Erza had the swords pointed at him and Gray had a point of ice aimed at his face. Natsu had, somehow, gathered what puny amount of energy he had left to stalk over to them and glare menacingly at his enemy. "We'd rather you do. Talk." There was no room for disagreement with Erza.

He sighed loudly, "Fine, fine! I'll talk - no skin off of my back if you guys have a little more understanding." Ryuu paused, tapping his chin as he thought of the best way to explain everything. "Okay, I'll start with me, then. I am a Celestial mage, but instead of using the Keys of the Spirits of the King - their official title and what normal Celestial mages use - I use the Will of the Spirits of Abstract. It's a very ancient and difficult technique to master and I am the only one who can use them.

"While it is true that I did want to test my strength against yours, Natsu-san, I have also found a way to acquire more power for me. And that is Lucy. Ah ah ah," he tutted, interrupting as he saw the Fairy Tail mages about to protest, "I'm not finished yet. It took years for me to find this spell, but now I'm ready to implement it. So, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish carrying out my plan."

Before the mages could register what he said, Ryuu grabbed his blades - weren't they over by the tree? - and shouted, "Spirit of Location, I accept!" Then he vanished. And it didn't take the three of them long to realize where he was going.

"Lucy!"

* * *

Her hand shook, but she was done. Wendy rocked back onto her rear from her kneeling position, panting raggedly.

It had taken a while, but Lucy was out of danger now. Her deep wounds, mainly the stab wound to her side, had been closed up completely and the bones that were completely mangled and broken were repaired. However, her cuts, bruises, and fractures still remained. Wendy, aware of the fact that she didn't have enough power to completely heal Lucy or at least numb the pain for her, had made her sleep. A tear fell from the young girl's eye as she began to untangle her friend's blonde tresses, attempting to clean off some of her blood. She had gotten halfway through Lucy's previously blood-caked hair, now a mere dull brown, when she realized that the shaking of the ground had stopped.

"Eh? Does that mean they stopped fighting?" She asked no one in particular, glancing toward the doorway as if expecting Natsu and the others to come charging in at any minute.

Wendy felt a light _whoosh_ behind her just seconds before a harsh power filled the room. It was brutal, like dry heat or a vice. Her breath knocked out of her, the wind dragon slayer whirled around to see a man with black hair and child-like brown eyes. "Ryuu!"

He grinned, "Hello, Wendy-san. Sorry to cut this short!" Dagger in hand, he slashed down toward her, cutting the arm she had hastily thrown up to defend herself. Thankfully, he was focused solely on Lucy, so the cut wasn't deep at all. However, Ryuu had snatched up Lucy and, holding her in one arm and lifting his dagger up high, cried out, "Spirit of Location, I accept!"

As that suffocating power left along with that man, Natsu and the others rushed inside.

"Lucy!" Natsu screamed as he ran inside, having just missed Ryuu.

"Wendy, where's Lucy?" Erza urged, dressed in black spike armor now.

Tears swelled up in her eyes, "I-I'm sorry, he took her again . . ."

The pink haired dragon slayer snarled, "Damn it!" Turning around, he raced back upstairs and outside. Sniffing, he smelled both of them getting further away and cursed again, pushing his drained body harder, struggling to catch up to them. They were getting further and further away. He burst through the trees into a small clearing and saw them running up ahead.

But before he was able to break into a sprint, a sudden, explosive flash of blinding light blew up before Ryuu and Lucy. Barely able to see, Natsu could somehow make out a figure being thrown clear across the clearing with someone yelling furiously, "Don't you dare touch Lucy, you bastard!"

As the light faded, Natsu's eyes widened. "Loke!"

The spirit was holding Lucy bridal-style, practically simmering in rage. Erza, Gray, and Wendy joined them, too, just as Ryuu was starting to get up from the ground.

"Loke, what are you doing here?" Erza asked, surprised.

"Why weren't you here earlier?" Natsu growled. "You could have stopped him from hurting Lucy!"

He whipped around to glare darkly at the dragon slayer, "You don't think I _tried_?! That bastard is a celestial mage, too; he used a Spirit of Abstract to keep us Spirits of the King out of his way. It was luck that he forgot the distance limit and stepped out of the Abstract's protection." His fist tightened, "I - We knew what Lucy was going through, but we couldn't do anything to help. All of us got here using our own spiritual power and have formed a perimeter around his base. There's no way he's getting out of here alive."

"Damn straight," the dragon slayer stood up, flexing his muscles.

As Ryuu stumbled to his feet, Loke stared hard at Natsu, "I'm getting Lucy to Virgo. You'd better leave some of him for me."

Slowly, Natsu's strength was coming back and as he felt his magic come back, he smirked, "No promises."

Loke glared at him, but his owner's condition was more pressing and he ran back into the forest. The four mages then turned to confront Ryuu, who was twirling his blades around and seemed as if he didn't really care that his target was getting away. When everyone - but Ryuu - got into a fighting pose, he grinned, "You just don't get it, do you? I am a celestial mage of the Spirits of Abstract - it doesn't matter what you do, I'm going to get that power she has!"

"Her power - do you mean Lucy's?" A bit confused, but still wary, the redhead had armed herself with floating swords.

Ryuu sneered at the powerful mage, "Yes, her power. Admittedly, she can't use it at will, but it's still there." He raised his voice, "Isn't that right, Loke?! Nice try, but I already knew that Gemini was waiting to take Lucy so you'd have an opportunity for an ambush."

A beat of silence went by before the spirit emerged from the woods behind Ryuu, a hard glare piercing through the unfazed mage and abandoning his idea for an ambush.

"She's one of the most powerful Celestial mages I've ever encountered," Loke growled, stalking slightly closer to Ryuu, "but if she can't access her full ability, then what makes you think you can?"

The Fairy Tail mages all waited for his answer, tense and on edge. None of them were expecting Ryuu to scowl at them. Maybe some kind of crazed, deranged laughter as his bid for power got closer in his reach, but not a frown as if Loke had said something stupid and insulting.

"Just when is it going to get through your thick skull? Because I am a Mage of Abstract! _Nothing_ will stop me from becoming the most powerful mage." With an infuriated snarl, he unsheathed his two daggers, "And you stupid Fairies are getting in my way! Spirit of -"

"Hell no!" Charging forward, Erza brought her sword down on his head, which would have cleaved him in two if he hadn't blocked it with his own blades.

"That wasn't smart," he smirked. "Spirit of Rage, I accept! Release your wrath!"

Erza gritted her teeth and prepared to strike again, but was forced to back off when the heat from Ryuu's suddenly glowing blades hit her like a tornado. As she leapt to the side with the others, the mage was forced to toss her now worthless blades away, the partially molten metal burning through the grass and dry dirt.

A faint howl was heard, growing stronger and angrier the brighter Ryuu's daggers shined. They only had to cover their eyes for a second, but it was enough for a burning force to hit Grey and Erza and fling them towards the trees. Quick to react, they both managed to right themselves and land upright. Whirling around Ryuu's blades was a brightness that seemed to twist until it resembled a demon, with fiercely glowing eyes and a thrashing tail. It was still undefined and largely a mass of bright light that had dimmed enough to see, but its howl, the same one that they had just heard, was very clearly heard. Natsu winced and nearly covered his ears as his enhanced hearing picked it up better than the others.

_Now_ Ryuu laughed crazily, "Meet my Spirit of Wrath! No one, not even the great Mages of the past, could summon this demon! Only _I_ am powerful enough to bring it under my command! Add Lucy's untapped power to mine and the entire world will fall to me! But first, you shall all burn in hell! Hahaha!"

With a piercing shriek, the Spirit lunged forward, going for Erza with a gaping maw and fiery fangs. Even with the heat-resistant armor she had donned on herself, the blistering heat was starting to make her dizzy. Sensing this, the Spirit unleashed a pulse of hot air, hot enough to cause the others to gasp. The dry heat was weakening them at an alarming pace.

All of them, but Natsu.

"All right!" He laughed, causing the Spirit to whip towards him and roar in fury. "Bring it on!" The dragon slayer nearly leapt forward when Ryuu's deranged laughter stopped him.

"You really _are_ dumb as shit, aren't you!" He brought a hand to his head as if he hurt for Natsu's apparent stupidity, "I know you're thinking of eating my Spirit's flames, but it won't work. Those flames are full of wrath and fury - there's no way you could match it! They'll burn right through you!"

Despite the man's 'warning', the pink haired mage smirked. Just being around the creature energized him.

Bellowing out, "Bring it, ya sissy candle," he ignored his friend's cries of alarm. There was more than himself or his friends he needed to do this for.

It was for Lucy.

Even after Wendy's healing, she could have passed as the victim of a hit-and-run, with her skin still deathly pale. The dragon slayer had next to no energy left. All that was pushing him forward, that was driving his every step, was that stupid blonde mage with a big chest. And now, as he watched the Spirit flare up and dive towards him in slow motion, his bloodlust went through the roof when he remembered her screams.

Ryuu watched with a giddiness he hadn't felt before, not even when he was a child, as his most powerful Spirit rushed in for the kill. With that annoying mage out of the way, the others would all lose their nerve and it'd be easy pickings for his Spirit. Not like it already was, but he was eager to get Lucy back and drain all of her power from her for himself. With breathless anticipation, the evil mage grinned maniacally as Natsu was completely doused in flames, disappearing from view.

He could almost taste victory when his Spirit shrieked and began to shrink, more and more until all that was left was a clawed hand. Soon, Natsu ate that too.

The dragon slayer closed his eyes - and snapped them back open as he roared fiercely. The trees swayed and hair was blown back as the mage relished in his power. As soon as he got control of it, Natsu whipped his head around to glare at Ryuu, who was merely staring with an open mouth.

"Wha-what? Ho-how - that's not possible!" He screamed. "No, not at all! You lie! You lie-"

He didn't get any further as Natsu leapt into the air and howled, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" This time, Ryuu was too stunned to call forth a Spirit and took the full force of the blast. He was flung back, flying through the air before slamming into a tree hard enough to knock a few twigs free. Before he had even hit the ground Natsu was there, punching him through the tree with a flaming fist.

The other mages (Loke had run off to make sure there weren't any more traps for Gemini and Lucy) stood to the side and watched silently was Natsu continued to beat the shit out of the dark mage. Even Wendy wasn't fazed by the harsh treatment. She had seen all of Lucy's wounds and believed that that mage deserved every injury he got.

The one-sided 'fight' ended quickly, with Ryuu struggling to breathe lying face down in the dirt and the pink haired mage standing above him, imposing the literally steaming. As he went in for the kill, Gray stopped him, surprisingly. Still enough in his right mind to see his friend, Natsu calmed his flames a bit and growled, "What gives?"

The look in the mage's eyes was colder than his ice, "I know how to give him a life worse than death." Natsu didn't say anything, just waited eagerly. "Watch." Turning towards Ryuu, Gray snatched his blades away from him and said, "All of your power comes from these, don't they? So if they were gone, you'd be helpless. So . . ."

Natsu got the message and with a vicious grunt and some fire, easily twisting the blade so much so that it snapped in two and he did the same to the other blade before melting them into the puddle on the ground. Ryuu was still out and had no idea that all of his power was stripped away from him and he'd never get it back.

Not giving the man behind him another glance, Natsu stalked off toward the direction of Lucy. It was about damn time he got to see her.

* * *

**Wow, this took foooorrrreeeevvvveeeerrrrrr! I started this over about 5 times, no lie. I apologize for the wait.**

**I was planning to finish it up this chapter, fluff and everything, but I just got sick of looking at this chapter (plus it would have gotten a little too long for me - I like to keep my chapters around 3,000 words).**

**And please, please, please review. You guys have no idea how much those things fuel me and get me going. The only reason this chapter got finished was because I re-read through all of the review I had already gotten.**

**Now, off to work on another FanFic! Cause I got a lot that need to be worked on (cue sheepish laugh)**

**~Dogtooth**


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